DANZ QUARTERLY

Issue No 6: December 2006

Editorial

This Edition of DANZ Quarterly picks up on two interesting themes.

Dance education, the engine room that drives the growth and vigour of our dance sector, is profiled in the last of our series on Tertiary dance programmes. There are wide-ranging options for students seeking a future in dance, and the professionalism with which these programmes are delivered is most reassuring. The diversity of philosophies that underpin provider offerings is remarkable and highlights the intellectual rigour and individuality of our dedicated dance educators.

The male dancer is also featured in this edition, with stories on Dziah and Leon Draper, an accomplished dancer and dance teacher, and the news that one of the country’s most well-known educators, Chris Jannides, is leaving Unitec to study for his doctorate in the UK. A profile of visiting Brazilian educator and facilitator, Bruno Caverna brings an international dimension.

Wishing you happy reading.

Francesca Horsley
Editor

Contents

• DZIAH to Dance
  Sue Cheesman talks to Billy Paea, director of DIZAH
• More than Just a Regular Bloke - Leon Draper’s Story of Quiet Achievement
  by Natalie Dowd
• The Search for “Fame” – The final in a series of profiles of major New Zealand tertiary dance programmes; New Zealand School of Dance, The Wellington Performing Arts Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Otago and Christchurch programmes.
• A SOUL-full Summer – Auckland Summer School of alternative dance and improvisation.
• MAUI Wowing the Mainland – South Island performances of Maui: One Man Against the Gods; telling the life story of the Maori demi-god, through a unique blend of contemporary dance, Kapa Haka, aerials and music.
• Returning to Origins – Bruno Caverna talks to Ali East and Bronwyn Judge after his workshop in capoeira and his technique, Playing in the Extremes at Otago University, Dunedin.
• Roving Artist in Asia – Lyne Pringle reports on the Magdalena Singapore Theatre Festival
• Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Sport and Dance (ICHPER-SD) Oceania Congress 2006 DANZ Dance Forums, Christchurch and Wellington
• Ballroom dancing makes its theatrical debut in New Zealand – Megashow Burn the Floor – Floorplay, exploded onto New Zealand stages in 2006.
• Reviews
  Fluid (Karen Barbaour, Kristian Larsen) reviewed by Sue Cheesman
  Requiem (Lemi Ponifasio and MAU) reviewed by Moana Nepia
  Tempo 06 roundup by Marianne Schultz, Julia Misom, Raewyn Whyte, Francesca Horsley and Alexa Wilson
  Highlights from The Body 06 by Carolyn Cairns
  The Nature of Wishing (Alyx Duncan) reviewed by Francesca Horsley
  Shree Ram Katha (Vivek Kinra and MUDRA Company) reviewed by Ann Hunt

Send details for listings well in advance to danz@danz.org.nz